What we've been up to

It's been a long time since I've written anything. Things have been so crazy busy for us and I've been meaning to write for a while now. So here's an update...

We moved into our house and it has been nothing but project after project. Ryan's parents came for Thanksgiving a week after we moved in and we were excited to be able to put our guest room to good use. We had lots of fun with them and had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner up at our cabin with my family too. It was really nice to see Ryan's parents and catch up, hopefully we can get together again soon.

Shortly after Thanksgiving Ryan and I took a well deserved vacation to Florida. It was so nice to be able to relax and forget about the last few months of hectic house buying. We went to Marco Island which is on the southwest coast of Florida right next to the Everglades.

We saw tons of alligators and birds, my fav were the bald eagles. We went on a airboat ride and kept getting splashed because we insisted on sitting in the front. It was totally worth it though. We also took a boat out on the ocean through what is called the "Thousand Islands" which is just a bunch of small islands with mangrove trees all over them. While we were out there a huge group of dolphins surrounded our boat and swam with us for about a half hour. They were so cute and Ryan and I went camera crazy!

We walked on the beach every morning and night, there were so many seashells it was amazing! One night we went to a local fisherman shop on the dock and bought freshly caught stone crab and ate it on the beach while watching the sunset. It was pretty romantic until Ryan threw a piece of crab to a seagull that had been watching us and then almost instantly a whole flock of birds swarmed around us. Haha, it was still fun. Probably my favorite part was going to an animal reserve of florida's natural animals. My one disappointment though was finding out that their panthers were't black, they look just like our cougars here. The only difference is they are used to the water and live in the swamp lands. They were still fun to see though. We had a ton of fun though and we're kinda bummed to come back to the Utah weather. Our plane got in around midnight and we got off on the wrong bus stop to our car and had to walk forever. Poor Ryan was wearing shorts! It is too dang cold here, I can't wait for summer to come back!

Now we are home and back to work and our house projects. We did however find some time the other night to build a gingerbread house together, which was actually the first time either of us have ever made one. Ryan thought it was going to be pretty lame, but he ended up getting really into it, he's such a perfectionist. We both ended up having some fun doin it together.

We are starting to tear our master bedroom apart, peeling of layers and layers of old paint and striping the original baseboards and doors. In the end I think it's going to be worth it, but right now it's kind of a big pain. Hopefully we can have it somewhat decent before family comes for the holidays.

New House

Ryan and I are buying a house! We have searched all year for the right one and have finally found it. After two long months of dealing with everything that could possibly go wrong (i.e. pain in the neck sellers), we have signed and are planning on moving in this coming week. We can't wait to move in and just start living there.

Things we are looking forward to:

1. A Dishwasher

2. Washer and Dryer

3. Wood Floors

4. Room for family and friends to visit

5. Putting money into our own pockets and not our landlords

6. Big backyard for our future puppy

7. Ryan's own woodworking shop

8. Renting out a basement apartment

9. Projects we can work on together

Here's some pics of the house

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween! It has always been my favorite holiday of the year. My sister and I used to play dress up all the time when we were little and it was so much fun. Having a holiday were you can be anything you imagine and get candy for it is just plain awesome. I can't wait to see all the cute little kids this year. I was looking through some old photos the other day and came across these.

Look at my brothers, what studs!

This is my sister Anna and me with our friends Brooke and Markell Harmon.

Two Weddings and a Baby

I have to post real quick about all the new exciting announcements in my family. My Brother's Matt and Andrew just recently got engaged and will be getting married next year. Andrew and his Fiance Analyn are getting married the beginning of February and Matt and his fiance Mitra are getting married in either late July or Early August. Then to add to the exciting news, Phil and Nicole called last night and announced that they will be adding to the family as well with another baby! They are due May 1st, and will know what the baby is in about another month or so. We are so excited for everyone! I guess that now would be a good time to announce the new addition to our little family...We are expecting as well! A new puppy that is, next spring.

Birthdays

So this weekend Ryan, my dad and I celebrated our birthdays. Ryan and I turned 23 and we are feeling so old now. My birthday was on the 16th and then Ryan and my dad's were on the 18th. Ryan kept teasing me and calling me an old fart for the two days that I was older than him.

Ryan got me a new dog for my birthday!!! Just kidding I wish. But for my birthday Ryan found a Malamute breeder in the area and we went a played with their dogs. Both of us have always wanted one since we were little and we have been wanting to get one lately. We spoke with the breeder and they are going to be having puppies next spring. We played with the dog that will be the mom and she was so pretty and well behaved. Here's some pictures of her. We can't wait for next spring!

We went out to eat with my Grandpa Smith and his wife LaRee at Magelby's on Friday, it was lots of fun catching up with them and seeing my grandpa.

On Sunday we had a relaxing day and had dinner at my parents.

For our birthday presents we decided to get a new computer since both of our laptops died on us. We got a Mac desktop and we're still trying to get used to it, but we're liking it so far. It's nice to have a computer that actually works!

James

Every Tuesday for the last few months I have been taking care of James my friend Pearl's baby boy. He's a little over four months old now and every week that I see him he has grown so much! He is a cute little guy and we have lots of fun. Ryan was worried that babysitting every week would make me baby hungry, but it has actually done quite the opposite. They are such a handful, I don't know how people do it, especially when they have like five of them running around! Don't get me wrong though, I really do love kids and am excited to have our own someday.

Me and Pearl

Pearl's husband Matt and Ryan

The Best Day of Our Lives

Since it was our anniversary I thought it would be appropriate to post some of our favorite wedding pics. So here you go...

Year One

Ryan and I celebrated our first year anniversary over the weekend! We were married on September 20th last year in Utah. It's crazy how fast time flys, we just can't believe it's already been a whole year. We have had so much fun together despite how crazy and busy this last year has been.

Shortly after we were married I had to study like crazy and take my nursing boards for my RN license. Both Ryan and I took on new jobs just before we were married. This last year has been quite challenging for me working in the ICU, especially from being a brand new nurse and taking on such an intense situation every day, not to mention working night shifts as well. I actually have just switched to working days over the last few weeks and it really has been awesome. I didn't realize how grumpy working nights made me. You just feel so rundown all the time, even if you do get all your sleep in. I'm really starting to love my job though and I'm so glad that I chose nursing as my career. I never stop learning and the intensity never dies. I love being able to go to work each day not knowing what I'm going to face.

Ryan has been working so hard at his job putting in 50+ hour weeks on top of night classes at UVU. He is so amazing, I don't know how he does it and he still comes home every night with a smile on his face. He is doing really well in school and is almost done with his first year. Right now he is taking his first construction management class which he's enjoying. When he gets laid off for the winter season he goes to school full time. We are excited to watch his advancement with Geneva Rock.

When I was working night shifts we had completely opposite schedules and we'd never see each other, sometimes for days on end. We would literally pass one another on the road coming and going. I would get home in the mornings and hop in bed and it would still be warm. It was awful and I am so grateful that I am on day shifts now, it's so nice to come home to my hubby:)
Other than working like crazy, Ryan and I have been in the search of our first house. We have been looking for a while now but are still waiting for the right one to come along. We figure we are going to be in Utah for some time while Ryan goes to school and would rather put our money in our own pockets than our landlords.

For our anniversary Ryan and I went up to Salt Lake for the day on Saturday. We went to the zoo in the morning and even though it's kinda childish, we really had a lot of fun. We are both animal lovers so it was perfect. After that we went downtown and walked around the city and walked through some neat antique stores. We went and got some amazing massages together and after we were all relaxed we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory! All I can say is Yummy!!! We ended the night stargazing on the mountainside in the back of Ryan's truck. It was such a great day! Sunday was our actual anniversary and we decided to have a day of relaxation. We went on a drive up the canyon where we were married. It was so beautiful with all the fall colors and we had a nice time reminiscing. We made a romantic dinner together that night. We had some delicious steak thanks to Ryan and we made some really yummy coconut shrimp together. We topped that off with some chocolate covered strawberries that made it a perfect night.

We are having such a wonderful life together and we love each other so much. We can't wait to see everything that's in store for us.

Here are some pictures from our weekend!

Campin

We went camping this weekend with our new camper to Maple Lake up Payson Canyon. It was nice to get out of town and enjoy some peace and quite in Utah's beautiful mountains. We love camping, there's just something about being in nature that really brings Ryan and I together. We took my family's dog ember with us and she really had a blast runnin around and playin in the dirt. Ryan made us some fantastic baby back ribs for dinner, they were really tasty! We can't wait to go again, hopefully soon.

Hyattville

Ryan and I drove to Hyattville, Wyoming this last weekend for the Dunlop Family Reunion. Ryan's parents own a cabin in Hyattville which is in the northern part of Wyoming. It is sort of in the middle of nowhere and has a population of about 60 people. We really love it though, it is so nice to get out of the city and be in nature where it is peaceful and quite and a day actually feels like a day. We met up with Ryan's Grandparents, Aunt and Uncle (Barb and Bert), Bert's brother Leo, Ryan's parents and his brother Sean. It was lots of fun seeing everyone and catching up. We wish that we could have spent more time with the family, but Ryan had to get back for work today.

The old barn

The family

Leo

Ryan with his dad and brother

All the guys worked so hard for hours and hours making a dam in the backyard river. They did an awesome job and now we are going to have a great swimming/fishing spot for years to come. Ryan and Sean have the "Thanksgiving Plunge" tradition where they jump in the freezing cold water every year. So now they have the perfect place to do it. They are CRAZY!

The dam turned out really nice and made a great little waterfall. It really enhanced the sound of the river, making the peacefulness of Hyattville that much better.
Ryan's dad scared the heck out of everyone when he threw an M-80 into the river. It sounded like a bomb went off and made all of us jump. I snapped this pic right after my heart jumped out of my chest.

Grandpa DunlopSaturday was cold and it rained most of the day, but we still had lots of fun

Bert made some awesome smoked ribs for us with his "Green Egg", Ryan is dying to get one.

Barb and Bert celebrated their wedding anniversary on Saturday, Congrats!

me n' ruger

All the dogs loved Grandma Dunlop
Sammy
Cheyenne
Ceasar
Ryan's parents are so nice, they gave us their old camper! We stayed in it on the trip, it is really nice and in great condition. We are so excited to take it out camping! Some pictures I took on a trip to Hyattville last year